Wedding dress

Through the twentieth century, classical dress accrued a number of associations, some more and others less historically apt. Certain of them-body consciousness, simple untailored construction, and deeply draped folds-conform more closely to their ancient prototypes than others: crisscross girdling at the midriff, fitted silhouettes, and insubstantial and unlined white materials. In these examples, classical dress is inspired not by the styles of the antique but by the fashions of the Directoire and Empire periods. Tulle and chiffon, textiles unknown to the ancient Greeks, are shirred and gathered into folds that suggest a merging of classical wet-drapery effects with the Neoclassical gowns depicted by Jacques-Louis David and Jean-August-Dominique Ingres.